Daily poll: Was the 30-month prison sentence given to Mariano Vega appropriate?

Former Jersey City Councilman Mariano Vega was sentenced yesterday to 30 months in prison for accepting bribes from an informant posing as a developer.

Mariano Vega's 21-month saga came to an end yesterday.

For the former Jersey City councilman, who last September pleaded guilty to agreeing to accept $30,000 in bribes from an informant posing as a developer, the road to remorse started as it does with most crooked politicians: arrogance.

Yesterday he made a heartfelt plea for Judge Jose Linares to have mercy on him and look at the entirety of his life's work -- not just what he admitted to illegally accepting.

It was a far cry from the defiant Vega who initially pledged his innocence, who only grudgingly gave up his title as council president, and who only resigned more than a year after his arrest, shortly before pleading guilty.

Some would say that doesn't sound much like remorse.

Vega could have gotten 37 months in prison, but Linares gave him 30, the minimum under the sentencing guidelines. Was it a proper sentence? Was Vega that bad of a crook that he was caught the only time he ever broke the law?